


Dragon, I Trust

by Eskiy



Series: Trust Dragon, I [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Dragons, Fantasy, First Person, Gen, REALLY Old Work, dragons have attitude problems, like a few years old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2013-11-06
Packaged: 2017-12-31 15:27:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1033298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eskiy/pseuds/Eskiy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Forced from his throne, Alaen has been forced to care for the child of an acquaintance. Then again, his current situation could be beneficial...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dragon, I Trust

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a college creative writing course back in the fall of 2009. Needless to say...it has its problems.

**Dragon, I Trust**

“Can I hold him?” the little blonde child asked, his round little face stuck between the iron bars that thankfully kept him caged. My claws sank into Izel’s flesh. I was curled around his shoulders, tail wrapped around the humanoid dragon’s neck, eyes closed, my black scales most likely shimmering in the sunlight like millions of black diamonds speckling the smooth waves of the ocean at night…I really had been enjoying my nice little sun bath until Yadira had insisted on making this little side trip.

I disliked interacting with children. Hatchlings, babes… disgusting little creatures. If I had had the chance I would have gobbled down this little blonde head before Yadira had the chance to sniff him out.

“You can see him?” she asked, her voice smooth and melodious. I hated her voice. It was so…charming and far too manipulative for even my likes. However, it was almost strange that she spoke to her child so sweetly. Almost as if she cared. Oh, now _that_ was just a laugh. I could laugh my tail off at that. Her? Caring about something? HA!

Lost in my own thoughts, I had hadn’t noticed that the conversation had turned until I felt Izel’s shoulder twitch. I reluctantly opened my eyes and stared at the Babe for a moment, scowling as best a dragon could, before dropping down and slipping through the bars. Oh yes, full of such fine grace and ease… I was the perfect specimen of poise--

I gagged and wheezed the second grubby little hands grabbed me by the neck. What the--?! I squirmed, making noises as I tried to free my windpipe.

_This_! _This_ is why I hated children/hatchlings/babes/small creatures! They just--grabbed! How dare this little runt try and kill me?!

“Watch him, Alaen.” Yadira warned. “My son is to be protected, not to be used for your sick little games.”

‘ _Why,_ ’ I began, voice smooth like molasses. Oh, how talented I was for being able to keep up my sarcastic nature while at the same time being strangled to death! Please, hold your applause. ‘ _What sick little games_?’ I almost squeaked like a child’s toy when those little arms tightened around my neck again. My legs were dangling, my claws useless seeing as though whatever strange material the Babe was wearing tangled around them.

“You know what ‘sick games’ I’m talking about. If you use him to regain your throne, so help me…”

Regain my throne? Why, Yadira, I mocked in my head. I never thought of doing that! Dragon’s honor…

“Amiri!” screeched a human woman, her large chest heaving and bouncing as she moved, long brown hair tugged back into a stiff braid that reminded me more of a limp horse’s—

“Ah! Look!” the child cried happily, holding me up like a stray dog.

Oh, but I would get the last laugh…

“Enough! I won’t hear it!” she snapped, grabbing one of his hands, which thankfully was pulled away so I could breath easier. “Come along, you know better than to talk to beggars!” she hissed, fury written on her face.

“But…look! They gave me a kitty!” he whined.

I scoffed. A ‘kitty’?! I had never been so insulted in my life! I squawked when he stepped on my dragging tail.

This child…I’d kill him before he came of age…so help me, I would! And then Yadira and Izel would pay dearly for this!

~+~

My first week of captivity, I had found myself secluded to the uppermost shelf of a bookcase in the Babe’s room.

Of course, this lead to him whining, begging, crying, wailing, sniffling, sniveling, and sobbing; my days had been turned from a glorious, Kingly-type to…

“Please kitty…?” Amiri sniffled again, tears trailing down his chubby cheeks, snot dribbling out of his nose like a waterfall.

I made a noise and looked away. Disgusting!!! I hated Babes!!!

“Come down…?” he asked again. I gave a sideways glance at him, my wonderfully angular head swiveling in a fluid motion. His green eyes were red and swollen, blonde hair mussed even though his---whatever that woman that took care of him was called; had spent a good deal of time earlier untangling it and putting it into sorts.

In my…most generous of a Dragon heart, I felt a tiny pang of sympathy. The Babe had no other little…gremlins to play with other than a female who was already off learning to walk with books on her head or some sort of strange human thing. On top of it he wasn’t allowed anywhere without another adult human around…

He should have been out lounging in the sun! Playing with other hatchlings and learning how to hunt and kill and do all sorts of fun and interesting things!

I sat up on my haunches, and smacked my claw down on the hard wood, causing the Babe to jump. ‘ _You should not be couped up here._ ’ I declared.

“Kitty? Is Kitty angry…?”

‘ _No!_ ’ I snarled, rising to my feet and letting out an angry not-at-all-cat-like hiss. ‘ _First of all, stop calling me ‘Kitty’! I’m not some mangy tom cat! I’m a_ Dragon _. A Dragon, get it?! I am regal and wise._ ’

He blinked up at me with a dumb look on his face.

Gods! This was going to take a long…long time. ‘ _Start calling me Alaen._ ’

He smiled. The Babe…. _smiled_. It was bright and happy and for a brief moment I felt bad for evening _thinking_ of eating him. Of course…I still _wanted_ to eat him, but he looked like a real Babe at that moment and I caught myself slipping off the shelf and letting him strangle me.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad…I could raise him. He smelled like me more than he did Yadira, the scent lurking under the pungent odor of human. Who was I to let a poor innocent little Babe live in the world of humans?

~+~

“You’re not helping.” Amiri snapped, brow furrowed; his entire face was etched in agitation, and the twelve year old looked about ready to strangle me.

‘ _Not helping?_ ’ I asked, appalled. ‘ _Why, I’m a Dragon. I’m the most helpful creature of all._ ’

“Your head’s getting too big. I doubt you’ll fit in the kitchen anymore.”

I bristled at that. ‘ _After seven years of raising you as if you were my own…to be treated like this! I’m eternally hurt, Amiri_.’ I sniffled.

The Babe looked purely unamused and grabbed his chess piece, slamming it down on my King with a vengeance. The poor King went flying, whapping me between the eyes. I let out an undignified yelp and rubbed at the spot with my claw. Amiri snickered a bit.

How ungrateful!! Here I was, feeding him, clothing him—alright, not clothing him…But I fed him! I even stayed by his side night and day when he was drugged!!

Drugged, I tell you! Those human creatures! They thought the Babe was crazed, mad, insane! All because he ate a few rats and was caught… And he talks to me even though no one else can _see_ me… That does _not_ make one mad!! But do humans listen? No. They just pin him down, and stick nasty smelling junk in his body and force him into a catatonic state.

States which lasted from days to weeks. The longest had been three weeks—that’s almost a month! My scales ruffled, those nasty creatures! Well…on behalf of Amiri, perhaps I would eat the humans as soon as my throne was regained.

I eyed the Babe across from me, his face had turned blank, and he was staring out the window. He was thin and gangly at best despite my best efforts, but my tail was twitchy and my ears pounded with the constant ‘thump-thump’ of the Orbs that were close by.

My throne had been taken from me forcibly. My brother, that traitor…! He had stolen my power…all of it! He had reduced me to a weak state; small body, no power what-so-ever. I knew of a way to get it back… Oh yes I most certainly did. But it required Yadira’s spawn. After all, the blasted woman was the only Half-breed with enough power to level a field of mountains like swatting a pile of smooshed strawberries.

Hmm… Strawberries. I slunk up onto the table and leaned down, plucking one of the red, juicy morsels from the dish with my teeth, chomping on it. Ooh… The one and only thing I enjoyed other than meat and a rub down. ‘ _So, Babe. Are you ready to help me or not_?’ I asked, chomping on my treat, tail swishing back and forth, small dignified and not-at-all-cute yips sounding from my throat.

Amiri swiveled his head to look at me, blonde hair dangling in his green eyes, pale skin stark against it. “I guess…I have to sneak out.”

‘ _Oh? Not the first…naughty thing you’ve done._ ’ I yawned and wiped at my eye with my claw. ‘ _so then, get your cloak and let us descend upon the woods._ ’

“ ‘Descend upon the woods’?” he asked, raising a brow. “You’re sounding like my sister’s sappy novels.”

I huffed, ‘ _Well_ excuse me _for being so prim and proper and wise._ ’

He made a noise and stood, opening his wardrobe to retrieve a light cloak. It was well made and flashy; gold and black with red trim, the clasps made of the purest gold knotting. 

‘ _Out the window then_.’

It had taken the Babe a long time to clamber to the ground below from his window, not to mention the fact that he was bad at climbing in the first place, then add in the guards and servants rushing about all over the outside gardens and then the halls, the windows being huge and clear, and the fact he was _wheezing like some sort of sick, dying squirrel_.

Honestly. I thought I had him better trained! Damn humans and their lazy ways! I curse you, humans! I thought.

By the time we, or shall I say Amiri since I had hitched a ride on his boney shoulders, made it to the forest on the eastern edge of the property the sun had begun to set, and soon Amiri’s nurse would be checking in on him for the evening meal, and an alarm would sound just before the property would be filled with search parties.

After all, you can’t let your skeleton out of the closet on its own, right?

“Where _now_ , Alaen?” he whined under me. He stepped over a fallen branch, black shoes—scuffed now—crunching the leaves underfoot quite loudly.

I whapped him with my tail in the face. ‘ _Enough whining or I’ll turn you around and we can go back. This is_ important _Amiri. Think of it like…_ ’ What had Babes been into? ‘ _you’re a pirate._ ’

“You could have just said ‘be quiet’.” He muttered, earning himself another sharp whack. He needed to learn respect! After all, I was a King! Kings needed respect! He moved along the darkening forest, fingers of the last rays of light streaming down through the leaves, ticking the underbrush as we moved.

The thumping/pounding/beating grew louder, and I could almost feel it under my skin, reverberating with each passing second. It was closer… Close. Just… _close_. 

We stopped, standing before a large cavern, the mouth of which was half blocked by sharp, jagged rocks, a large snake slithering along them, seeking its hollow for the night. A tree had started growing at the upper edge of the opening, bowed over, branches brushing the smooth, black rocks. “Is this it?” he asked, voice wavering.

His fear was foul. ‘ _What do_ you _think?_ ’ I asked. ‘ _We walked through the woods, sans the snow, over a creek and arrived at a cavern. You think this is our destination? You’re so very,_ very _, bright young Babe of mine. Now hush up and go in there._ ’

“What?!” he shrieked, voice cracking. “You’re insane! I’m not setting _foot_ in there!”

I hissed and leapt off his shoulder, landing on the rock with a grace unmatched. I looked over my shoulder at him, long neck curled. ‘ _You’ll do as I say. This is important, Babe. You agreed, and dragons don’t go back on their word._ ’ I replied. Like I’d let him back out! This—I needed this! It was the only way to regain my throne, and so help me this Babe was my ticket out of this hell-hole of a babysitting job. 

“Do I _look_ like a dragon, Alaen?! I’m going home.” He turned on his heel, heading back the way we came. He got two steps out before I darted to block his path, wings extended, their span easily blocking his path.

‘ _You’re more than half of a Dragon, that makes your word that much more important! Those people that drug you, that shove you, and push you, and talk down to you, do you think you have to be pushed around forever? Don’t you want to make_ them _pay? Show_ them _how it feels to be held down on a bed, kicking and screaming for their lives; needles shoved into their arms, powders and syrups forced down their throats,_ ’ I hissed out, my green eyes picking up on the way his fists clenched, his jaw set firm, the anger washing over his features like a thundercloud rolling in off the plains. I climbed up his pant leg and wrapped about his shoulders, nosing his temple. Just a little more and he’d be compliant again… ‘ _you can show them, Amiri._ You _who is so weak right now, once we obtain these orbs…You remember what they contain, don’t you? Power unrivaled…So much…_ power _._ ’ I purred. ‘ _You can use it, Amiri. Only you can… You can teach them. You can be the one in control, show them you’re not mad. Show them your greatness… And all you have to do is go in that cave and take it._ ’

He took a breath, and I held my own. After a moment he nodded, “Right. I’ll go.”

I smirked inwardly, rubbing his throat with my tail. ‘ _Good boy._ ’

He turned and moved back towards the cave, avoiding the snake that was watching us curiously, its tongue darting in and out. He slid into the dark cavern, falling roughly on his rump with a small cry.

‘ _Idiot_.’

“Shut up, Alaen.” He grumbled, standing and brushing himself off. We looked through the darkness; while I knew that my vision was far better than his own, I also knew that Amiri was able to see in the pitch black ink that laid between us and our goal. He took a deep breath and began to slowly make his way through the darkness, stumbling over rocks here and there, but mostly he managed to stay on his feet.

I was so proud I could have cried if I had wanted to.

With each step, the pounding grew louder, and I could have sworn Amiri could feel it as well, his own skin vibrating with the noise, pace quickening. He must have been attracted to it as well…

Although, I was so very charismatic back in my day, Dragons would come from all over just to get a glance at my scales, just to set their eyes upon my most magnificent visage. ‘Such grace!’ ‘Such poise!’ ‘Such a handsome Dragon!’ ‘So wise!’ ‘So intelligent!’ ‘My, what large horns he has!’ Ah…the praises never stopped!

“Alaen?”

‘ _What!?_ ’ I snapped. ‘ _I was thinking._ ’

“You can think?”

I snapped my tail against his neck like a whip, causing him to yelp. My head swiveled and my eyes locked on it. There, nestled between two sharp stalactites was what I had been searching for, for years.

The object was large, about my size—that of a house cat—no relation! It was a dark black, so dark that even in the darkness we were already in, it _glowed_. It hummed low, pounding and sounding like a heartbeat, matching my own. Yes. There is was… That was it!

It was _mine_! My claws dug into Amiri’s shoulder in anticipation, and I had to swallow to keep from drooling all over myself. The orb may have been only a small portion of the power that had been taken from me, but it was still more than enough to aid me in finding the others. ‘ _What are you waiting for?!_ ’ I barked. ‘ _Go get it! Bring me to it!_ ’

“You’re lazy.” He grunted, but I was too distracted, eyes locked on my prize, tail curling as a ball of excitement welled up within me. He stepped over a few more rocks, and clambered up a boulder, little fingers clutching the jutting handholds to try and keep himself from falling.

I darted off his shoulder, climbing up his arm and over the rocks. I extended my wings, ready to take flight to grab the object of my desire… If only I hadn’t have been in such a rush to get to it. Hadn’t have been so…so…Ugh, I couldn’t believe how _stupid_ I had been.

I heard Amiri cry out, and the next thing I knew, I was on the other side of the cave in a heap on the ground. My wings were tangled in bones and debris, the rib from a human skeleton jutting into my side. I rose to my feet, shaking my head to clear it. What in the—

“Alae—” Amiri screamed, his voice cut off and replaced with the well known sound of someone being strangled.

I jumped up onto a rock, and stared, my gaze piercing the darkness. Amiri had been lifted off the ground by his throat. Around his neck was the large hand of a snarling, drooling, stinking, rotting, Ogre. Its teeth were longer than my own body, arms thick as tree trunks, and legs even larger. Clothes made of decayed human flesh were stretched taut around its body, one piece on its shoulder an obvious face, the blank eyes of death staring into the darkness.

The Babe was gagging, lips quivering as he tried to breathe, blunt little nails clawing at the thick, gnarled fingers. He was lifted closer to those teeth dripping with saliva and snot, and something in me snapped.

Someone dared touch what was _obviously_ the property of I!? The greatest King in the North?! Ruler of all—

I hissed, and took flight. I shot across the small cavern, sinking my claws into thick, leathery flesh of its back. The creature howled in pain, dropping my Babe in favor of reaching behind itself to try and dislodge me. HA! Like that’d happen. I prided myself on being strong—after all, it was how I’d taken the throne from my Uncle in the first place.

In the world of Dragons, not only did wit, charm, and wisdom play a role—physical strength ruled supreme. To survive, one must be powerful. One must be able to meet challenges head first…and win of course.

I let go only to scramble up its back, sinking my teeth into a nasty, rotting ear that was half falling off the creature’s head in the first place. Another roar of pain, and I trilled in victory. It stumbled back and forth, reaching up to swat me away. I was quicker, and darted around to attack his face straight on, claws slashing his eyes, blood and white, milky cream sliding down my scales like melting butter on toast…hmmm…jam on toast perhaps?

Blinded, the creature swung at its own face, nearly smashing me with its fists before I leapt off, landing on the ground near my charge, the Babe curled into a ball, hacking as he tried to catch his breath. ‘ _Get up!_ ’ I snapped, the pounding of the Ogre, and its cries nearly drowning out my speech.

Amiri shook his head, still panting and wheezing, green eyes wide with fear. By the smell of things, the Babe had soiled himself as well… Lovely. The coward!

I hissed, stamping my claws on the ground, thundering feet headed our way. Great, they’d planned this?! I looked up, scanning the cavern, seeing another two Ogres struggling into the cavern, roaring and rattling our bones. I looked back up at the Orb, its humming and beating begging me to take it…but there was no way I could unwrench it from the stalactite cage with such puny claws. I looked back down at the Babe, tears running down his face, body shaking.

‘ _Coward! Get up! Get the Orb! Stop acting like a human!_ ’ I snarled, wings spread in a threatening manner, teeth bared.

He shook his head again and started backing away as the two new Ogres began to draw closer once they noticed us. I looked back at them, snarled and leapt over Amiri, teeth tearing into the back of his cloak. I began to drag him, my claws scraping against the stone ground.

‘ _Get up!_ ’ I snapped again.

He was on his back, hands and feet scrambling to get a good hold of the ground. I could only drag him a few feet, and the only thing keeping the Ogres from tearing us apart were the large boulders I’d gotten us between.

Finally, he managed to stand, knees clanking together. I leapt onto his shoulders as he turned and fled. I intentionally dug my claws deep enough into his shoulder to draw blood. He couldn’t feel it now, but soon… _soon_ he’d feel my wrath. I’d been so close, and yet... This Babe had…!!!

~+~

Amiri had been drugged when he was found on the edge of the forest, cut up, bruised, and soiled.

Normally, I’d have tried to help him fight against the nurse who stuck those long, thin metal tubes into his arms. But, I didn’t care enough to help him that time. It was his punishment, and like hell I’d help him after he betrayed me.

I’d watched over him, at least, perhaps because I did have a soft spot for the Babe I had raised. And still, after another eight years I was still with him.

I looked out the window of the carriage, my perch on Amiri’s shoulders, tail brushing through blonde hair every now and then to annoy him, although it was entertaining to me to see his face scrunch up in distaste.

In the distance I could see the summer home in which another chance at regaining my throne sat—beneath its soaring terraces, the Orb called to me, and to him. ‘ _Don’t fail._ ’ I murmured, only to be ignored. My scales were ruffled but I let it go. After all, we were approaching one of the greatest manors Diapente had to offer.

The Bellus Manor was a large, glistening white structure that stood on a large hill outside of the town of Migrus in the Tumulus region of southwestern Diapente Province. Its massive gardens were filled with fragrant flowers almost year round, and had won envy from the Empress herself…


End file.
